


stay, don't leave me

by demonicneonfishy



Series: february angst-fest (febuwhump 2021) [13]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Andy | Andromache of Scythia Needs a Hug, Gen, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani Needs a Hug, Nicky | Nicolò di Genova Needs a Hug, POV Andy | Andromache of Scythia, Post-Canon, discussions of mortality, really everyone just needs a hug in this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:20:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29408262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonicneonfishy/pseuds/demonicneonfishy
Summary: She’s not used to the constant pain, and at the same time it’s become an old friend in a matter of days.
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia & Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Andy | Andromache of Scythia & Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani & Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Andy | Andromache of Scythia & Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Series: february angst-fest (febuwhump 2021) [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2141784
Comments: 5
Kudos: 33





	stay, don't leave me

**Author's Note:**

> day 13 of febuwhump 2021  
> prompt: hiding injury

Getting used to being mortal is difficult.

She’s not used to this much pain. She’s been in pain before, but never for this long. Never with the constant ache in her bones and the spikes of agony whenever she moves the wrong way.

It’s been so, so long since pain  _ lasted _ .

It takes her a few moments to get out of bed, wincing with every movement. Knife wound in her shoulder, gunshot wound in her side. She knows she’ll heal and be back to normal (as normal as she can be) but she’s starting to wonder if that’ll ever really happen.

c

She drags herself into the kitchen. It’s late, later than she’d normally sleep. Another aspect of her newfound mortality: she needs to  _ sleep _ . More than she ever did before.

“Morning,” Nicky says as she enters, without looking up from the stove.

She makes a noncommittal grunt and sits down on one of the stools by the counter. Wordlessly, Nicky slides her a mug of coffee and returns to the stove.

“Joe awake yet?” she asks after taking a sip. 

“No.”

“Nile?”

“Went on a run, I believe. About three-quarters of an hour ago.”

They sit in silence as Nicky cooks. Andy wants to say something to him, wants to ask  _ How long have you been awake? _ but she doesn’t know where to begin.

After a little while, Nicky sets down a plate in front of her. Then a glass of water with two pills.

“Thank you,” she tells him. He doesn’t respond.

_ Oh, Nico _ .

She eats quietly - it’s simple, just an omelette, but still good - and pushes her plate to the side.

Nicky turns around and looks at the pills still on the counter. “Andy. The painkillers.”

“It’s not that bad,” she tries. “Really. I’ve dealt with pain before.”

“I saw you enter the room. You walk as if every step hurts.”

“Nicky. I’m okay.”

“Take the painkillers, Andy.” He sounds so  _ tired _ . “Please.”

She swallows the pills, if only for him, but she hates the sensation, the way the pill seems to stick in her throat even after she’s finished the water.

Nicky walks past her, presumably to go wake Joe, and she catches hold of his wrist as he passes. “Nico,” she says firmly.

He looks at her. 

“I will be okay,” she tells him.

He nods and looks away, but not before she sees the tears in his eyes.

She lets him walk away without another word.

* * *

“Stance,” Nicky reminds Nile, not unkindly. “Bend your knees.”

She obeys and lifts her sword.

Andy’s sitting on the porch of their safehouse, watching Nicky teach Nile to use a sword. Andy had explained that she didn’t  _ need  _ to learn, but Nile had wanted to, and… well. It’s not like they could take any jobs at the moment, with her injuries. 

Joe sits down beside her. “How’s she doing?”

“You tell me,” she teases. 

Joe looks at her. “You doing okay?”

That’s the question, isn’t it?

She shrugs, and immediately regrets it when pain stabs through her shoulder. “It’s not that bad.”

“ _ Andy _ ,” Joe says.

“I’ve dealt with worse.”

“You know you don’t have to be unaffected all the time, right?”

She looks at him, and he smiles sadly. 

“I know you’re trying to protect us, but… you don’t  _ have  _ to. And that means telling us when you’re in pain.”

Andy doesn’t quite know what to say.

“So, how are you feeling?”

“Hurts like a bitch, but I’ll manage,” she replies.

“I wasn’t just talking about the pain.”

She sighs. “I don’t know. It’s all so… new.” She smiles a little, then. “Been a long time since I could say that. How are you?” She knows Joe’s been hurting, she’s known him for centuries. Long enough to tell when he’s not okay. 

Joe is quiet for a little while, watching Nicky talk Nile through basic form. “It’s a lot to get used to, I guess.”

“You can say that again.”

“You know I didn’t believe you, at first,” he says. “You and Quynh. When you first told us we could die.” He looks at her then. “We’d been invincible so long, I didn’t… didn’t see how that could end. And I was scared of it, but… it never felt real.”

Joe’s always been the most open with his emotions, and that hasn’t changed - his fear, his grief, his pain are all crystal clear as he looks at her. 

“Until you showed up in the lab, and you wouldn’t stop bleeding, and…”

There are tears in his eyes, and her heart aches for him, her little brother. She doesn’t want to leave him behind.

She pulls him into a hug, letting his tears fall onto her good shoulder as she reaches up to cup the back of his neck. It hurts, but she doesn’t let go.

“We’ll be okay,” she whispers. “It’ll get better, I promise, and we’ll be okay.”

It doesn’t feel like the truth yet. Maybe, in time, it will.

**Author's Note:**

> when i started febuwhump i thought it was gonna be mostly kaysanova angst and yet here i am with even more andy based angst  
> -  
> i'm demonicneonfishy on tumblr too if you wanna come say hi!! (or yell at me for the angst)


End file.
